Jamaat men clash with Rajshahi cops during hartal

Pro-hartal activists hurdle crude bombs at police pickup van at PTI intersection. Photo: Star

The activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, clashed with police in Rajshahi as it is observing the first phase of the three-day hartal (shutdown) across the country today.

Police fired shots and tear shells to bring the situation under control.

Meanwhile, a chase and counter-chase took place between law enforcers and pickets in Bogra.

Jamaat enforced the general strike from 6:00am today protesting the capital punishment awarded to its chief Motiur Rahman Nizami yesterday for his crimes against humanity committed during the country’s Liberation War in 1971.

In Rajshahi, Jamaat-Shibir men blocked a road at Katalipara around 6:30am to obstacle transport movement during the hartal.

As police rushed to the spot, the activists hurled brick chips targeting the law enforcers and also exploded at least two crude bombs but none was reported hurt in the blast.

Police had to fire 20 shots and lob tear canisters to bring the situation under control, said Alamgir Hossain, officer-in-charge of Motihar Police Station.

Besides, Rapid Action Battalion members chased a group of Jamaat-Shibir men when they blocked Hadir intersection in the city.

Our Bogra correspondent reports, pickets blasted three crude bombs at Belail point on Rangpur-Dhaka highway around 8:00am. But none was injured in the attack.

Besides, the pro-hartal activists also hurled two crude bombs targeting a police pickup van at PTI lane on Sherpur road prompting the law enforcers to fire five tear shells to disperse the hartal supporters.

The pickets blocked the Bogra-Naogaon highway by felling timbers to make the hartal a success. Later, law-enforcement agencies removed those to ease traffic movement on the highway.